Former South Africa cricketer Daryll Cullinan believes Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli must remain active in international cricket if they want to stay relevant until the 2027 ODI World Cup. Otherwise, he suggests, India should “move on” from the veteran stars.
The pair could be seen together again on India’s upcoming three-match ODI tour to Australia, their first outing since retiring from Test cricket following the Champions Trophy.
‘You Can’t Pick and Choose’
Speaking to The Hindustan Times, Cullinan stressed that class and experience alone won’t be enough.
“Well, I think from an ability and experience point of view, they could play, I don’t think there’s any doubt in that. But they’d have to be on the ground of international cricket. No matter how good you are, you can’t just play a few games here and there, not put in the hours, and expect to perform. It doesn’t work that way,” he said.
He added that regular game time is crucial. “They need to have played a serious amount of cricket to be in the right physical and mental frame of mind. Anything less, and I’d say no—India should move on.”
Retirement and Transition
Rohit and Kohli retired from T20Is after lifting the World Cup in June last year. With both stepping away from the shortest format and Test cricket, their ODI future is now under debate.
Gill as the Next Leader
Cullinan also tipped Shubman Gill, India’s current Test captain, as the natural successor in ODIs. He suggested Gill should take charge of the format, regardless of whether Rohit continues to play or not.
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